A former England rugby international has scored a big success off the field after setting up his own sports business in Asia.

James Forrester was a gifted forward for both Gloucester and England before injury cut his career short in 2008. But he put this setback behind him and ventured east to Singapore where he launched his unique brand of fitness boot camps.

Setting up his own business was very daunting at first for a man more used to team sheets than spreadsheets, especially when doing it on foreign soil.

But he chose a good place to start as Singapore has been ranked the world’s best place to do business seven years in a row, according to the World Bank.

Called UFIT the boot camps focus on strength and speed, two crucial skills rugby players focus on in today’s physical game. UFIT is now the biggest boot camp in Singapore and has plans to expand across the region.

James said: “Singapore works well for us as it has a large professional expat community for whom this form of outdoor exercise appeals. But KL (Kuala Lumpur), Jakarta and other cities in south-east Asia also have big expat communities we want to tap in to.”

“Singapore has a very entrepreneurial feel about it and the government encourages that. The taxes are really low and if you are a start-up you don’t have to start paying GST (the equivalent of VAT in the UK) until you have earned at least SG$1 million in revenue.”

James, 31, is part of new breed of professional sportsmen who are more business-minded, appreciating their sports careers only have a short lifespan.

He added: “When I was at Gloucester a lot of the guys were aware of this and were setting up their own businesses. While I wasn’t one to love the limelight, I would be stupid not to use my background to help me in the business world.”

It would have been much harder for James to launch his boot camps in the UK where military-style fitness regimes are far more popular than in Asia.

But James didn’t jump headfirst into the new business venture as soon as he arrived in Asia. “A good friend of mine got me a job as a broker but I knew from day one this wasn’t for me. But I did learn a lot about business in the short while I was there.”